cris
10-28-2005, 11:57 PM
First I'll start off by saying hello to everyone. I just recently registered, but I've been reading the forum for a while =)
I've been shopping for new earphones for a while (after my stock, terrible-sounding ones blew.. yet I never played them loudly, at all, ever.) I did some research and avoided anything with 16 ohms because of the distortion issue so many people talked about in the 60GB ipod photo's.
I bought the infamous mdr-ex51lp earphones that everyone praises so much (same as the 71's). I wanted to see if I'd get the distortion, and surely enough, I did. I also felt like I was in a room the size of a box with 2 big speakers sitting on either side of my ears. It felt closed in, uncomfortable. Not to mention muddy, and the treble was extremely harsh. I absolutely hated them, so I returned them. (not to say anything of their tiny, fragile wire).
I then started looking for alternatives. I had bought my brother a playstation portable (psp) and had thought the earphones on that sounded pretty good, so I went to best buy to see if they had them. I had found their sound very neutral, their treble smooth, and their bass less exaggerated than the mdr-ex41lp's. I found the earphones at best buy, but they came with a remote that was incompatible with the ipod. they look like this. You can search for them on google images, i can't post picture links, apparently.
so I thought i'd modify the plug and go with it. I did a little more shopping around bestbuy, and I came across the sony mdr-E828LP headphones. You can also search for these on google pages (read: can't post links if you're a new member).
they are the same exact earphones, at half the price as the psp ones! granted they weren't white like the psp earphones, but I didn't care. Best part of it all? they were $10.99!!!
so i brought them home, and I've been listening to them nonstop since. They are clear, precise, very open (they're open air). They stay in your ears better than the ipod earphones, they sound 10x better, and they completely outperform the 51's (and therefore, the 71's) which cost many times their price. The distortion that comes across is also almost non-exhistant, too. I can't really hear it anymore.
So.. that's my recommendation for anyone searching for something better than the stock ipod earphones. They're 10 times better, fit better, feel better, sound better, and they're a whopping $10.99.
by the way, I subscribe to stereophile magazine, my car stereo was $1700 (built myself, installed myself, tuned myself) and I have nothing but the higest regard for musical reproduction. That these earphones impress me is... to say the least.. quite a feat!
hope that helps anyone!
-cris
I've been shopping for new earphones for a while (after my stock, terrible-sounding ones blew.. yet I never played them loudly, at all, ever.) I did some research and avoided anything with 16 ohms because of the distortion issue so many people talked about in the 60GB ipod photo's.
I bought the infamous mdr-ex51lp earphones that everyone praises so much (same as the 71's). I wanted to see if I'd get the distortion, and surely enough, I did. I also felt like I was in a room the size of a box with 2 big speakers sitting on either side of my ears. It felt closed in, uncomfortable. Not to mention muddy, and the treble was extremely harsh. I absolutely hated them, so I returned them. (not to say anything of their tiny, fragile wire).
I then started looking for alternatives. I had bought my brother a playstation portable (psp) and had thought the earphones on that sounded pretty good, so I went to best buy to see if they had them. I had found their sound very neutral, their treble smooth, and their bass less exaggerated than the mdr-ex41lp's. I found the earphones at best buy, but they came with a remote that was incompatible with the ipod. they look like this. You can search for them on google images, i can't post picture links, apparently.
so I thought i'd modify the plug and go with it. I did a little more shopping around bestbuy, and I came across the sony mdr-E828LP headphones. You can also search for these on google pages (read: can't post links if you're a new member).
they are the same exact earphones, at half the price as the psp ones! granted they weren't white like the psp earphones, but I didn't care. Best part of it all? they were $10.99!!!
so i brought them home, and I've been listening to them nonstop since. They are clear, precise, very open (they're open air). They stay in your ears better than the ipod earphones, they sound 10x better, and they completely outperform the 51's (and therefore, the 71's) which cost many times their price. The distortion that comes across is also almost non-exhistant, too. I can't really hear it anymore.
So.. that's my recommendation for anyone searching for something better than the stock ipod earphones. They're 10 times better, fit better, feel better, sound better, and they're a whopping $10.99.
by the way, I subscribe to stereophile magazine, my car stereo was $1700 (built myself, installed myself, tuned myself) and I have nothing but the higest regard for musical reproduction. That these earphones impress me is... to say the least.. quite a feat!
hope that helps anyone!
-cris